Cooper and Baby Belly

Well, here we are beginning spring! I love the warmer weather, being able to play outside more and the longer sunlight in the evenings.
So far my pregnancy is going well.

I'm 24 weeks and finally over the sickness stage and into the tired stage. My mom has been here the past week and we have been shopping for cute girly fabric to decorate the nursery. I'm a little anxious, yet excited to start painting and decorating because that means the baby will be here before I know it. I've haven't had too many cravings lately just mostly citrus fruit. I can't seem to get enough of it. I think baby girl enjoys it too because she moves, kicks, and wiggles around much more than Cooper ever did! If she keeps this up we are going to have one wiggly child on our hands once she's born. I'm getting really exited to meet her!

But before we can actually get around to painting and decorating the baby room we need to find a place to put the office. In order to do this we are planning on clearing out our storage room, making it a guest room and then making the current guest room Paul's work office. This will leave space in our current down stairs office for all of the upstairs office furniture. But first we need to clear out the storage room and find a place to put all of our stuff, or junk as some of it may be. So Paul and Cooper have been busy making awesome benches and shelves.

This is the kitchen bench Paul built to store more kitchen appliances. Love it! My mom even made a bench cushion for us to sit on that is awesome! Thanks mom! Cooper actually likes to sit on the bench so now we can have family meals and all eat at the same table.


We decided to redo to the shelving in our hall closet to use the space more efficiently. Cooper loved to sit on the bottom shelf and tell us there was a problem he needed to fix. Gotta use the light to see all the little problems. And he's even being safe by wearing safety goggles. Too cute!


In our basement we had a bench that was covered by carpet. We thought it would be more effective if it had storage space underneath. I was a little nervous as to what we would find once we tore off the carpet. Thankfully it wasn't much other than dust and spiderwebs. Cooper loved using his tools to help bang on the wood.


He was so proud of the bench he helped daddy build. What a great job they did.

We also decided to build shelves around our TV to have better storage for our movies and books.

The shelves still need to be painted but at least they are done and ready to put stuff on.

And to think that each of these projects took Paul about a day to build! I'm so thankful he is so handy! And he has a cute little helper too!

Here are a few other things we've been up to the past few months.

Cooper enjoys posing with his belly after Paul took pictures of my belly.




What a cute smile! Love this kiddo!

Since the weather has started to get warmer we have been spending more time outside. Cooper loves playing with the neighbor girls. This jeep is one of his favorite things to drive. Looks like Evelyn enjoys driving it too. Cooper makes the funniest faces. He wouldn't be Cooper without at least one crazy face picture.





All three kids crammed into one car. How cute!


Even daddy wanted to get in on some of the outdoor fun!

Cooper wasn't too sure he wanted daddy riding his bike. I think Cooper was running after daddy to tell him he wasn't being safe, he forgot to put on his helmet.


We were also able to get out and get some of our garden planted, peas, lettuce, and carrots. Cooper even wanted to plan some sun flowers for mommy. How sweet!


Another cute cheesy smile by one cute little helper.


What a great little helper he was. I didn't see it all but according to Paul Cooper's technique was quite interesting, throwing the peas straight up into the air and letting them fall where they may and dumping a small bowl of carrot seeds in a pile, and then spreading from there.

Cooper also attended a birthday party at the Kangaroo Zoo. What a fun place to have a birthday party.






And on another side note I think that Cooper is almost potty trained! He's gone about 5 days being dry! Tuesday will be the first day at school in big boy underwear! I'm a little nervous about this but very proud of him. Hopefully this is just the beginning of the big boy Cooper!

I can't wait for warm weather everyday so we can spend more time outside! I love spring!

Getting All Wet

Friday night Paul turned on the sprinkler to water our front lawn. Cooper saw it outside and thought it would be fun to play with the water. It looks like he had a blast.


He looks like he's trying to water our neighbors house.


Holding the sprinkler was fun, although he couldn't figure out how to put it down and needed some help.


What a face!


Another cute smile for the camera!


Gotta lick the dripping snot. Gross!


Screaming and running away.


Cooper had a great time running through the sprinklers on a hot summer day.

Cooper's Adventures

It amazes me how everyday Cooper is growing and learning new things. He now has a handful of words that he is able to communicate. If you look on the right side of the blog you will find a new feature of our blog called speech chatter. These are all the words Cooper currently says and the signs he uses.

Since the weather has been getting warmer Cooper loves to play outside. Whenever he wants to go out side he will grab his coat, hand it to mom or dad, and said "side". So cute! He loves to play in the dirt and throw it everywhere. This particular picture was taken in front of our neighbors yard. I guess their dirt is better than dirt in our yard.



Cooper decided that he wanted to play with his forks and spoons. Apparently they are more fun to play with than to use to eat with. He will now only use a small adult fork.



Lately Cooper likes to wear things around his neck. It started with bibs. He doesn't like to wear them much when he eats, but they make great capes. And he has to wear more than one at a time.


He also enjoyed wearing moms scarf around his neck. Maybe next year he'll have his own scarf to wear.


He also wanted to wear a blanket around his neck. Maybe some day he'll have a real cape.


As he wears his "super hero" capes, here are some of the tricks he can do.


Since we moved this table back upstairs all Cooper wants to do is sit under it and play. It's like his own little throne.




This is a rare moment for Cooper and mommy. He's usually off running or trying to squirm away. But every once in awhile I will be able to catch him for a quick hug.


Cooper has discovered lying on his stomach and how much fun this can be on the kitchen floor. He does this when one of his toys goes under furniture out of his reach.


Cooper is holding one of his favorite toys. Daddy's phone with a USB cable attached. What a cute mischievous smile.


Cooper has graduated to a "big boy" tooth brush. He does it all by himself, of course because he won't let us help him. He mostly chews on the brush instead of brushing. He's not perfect, but he's learning. As Paul says, "Rome wasn't built in a day."


One of Cooper's new favorite foods is polenta. On this day, during dinner, he couldn't seem to eat it fast enough with his fork so he decided to use his hands instead. This was the end result. Surprisingly enough, most of it made it into his mouth.


Cooper has discovered painting. These brushes have paint in a tube with a brush on the end. He liked to touch the brush with his hands more than actually painting. Once he tried to taste it, hence the paint near his mouth.


Can't have just one! Gotta have 'em all in his hands.


Cooper has discovered black olives. Putting them on his middle finger is his favorite thing to do!


Every time we get out the vacuum Cooper has to help. He loves to do it himself. Hopefully he will still think it's fun when he's older.



For his 1st birthday Grammy Terry and Grandpa Ed got Cooper a walker/riding car. At that time Cooper wasn't able to steer it very well and kept running into walls. Now he's a pro!

Instruction Manual Please!

Cooper's first three days at daycare were very successful. I had been so worried that things wouldn't go well. He handled it much better than I did. When at daycare Cooper ate good including burping good and minimal spitting up, played hard with the other kids, and took 2 1/2 hour naps, even while other kids were screaming, running around, and banging on the piano. When I picked him up on Wednesday I had to wake him up. And surprisingly, since he hadn't eaten a third bottle, the ride home was very pleasant, no crying or fussing at all. Since I go back to work this coming Tuesday, I decided that I wanted to spend one last mommy day with Cooper. So Thursday was the day we stayed home and played. I thought since Cooper had a successful first week at daycare things would be just as good at home. Apparently, Cooper had other plans.

Cooper decided that during the day he didn't want to sleep at all. Every time I tried to put him down for a nap he would only sleep 1/2 hour at a time and then wake up fussing and crying. Now I know that Paul and I are rookie parents and Stephanie (daycare provider) has taken care of kids for over 15 years, but come on, only sleeping 1/2 hour?! And we have also had trouble getting him to burp. And if he does it usually includes a nice mixture of spit up. What's up with that Cooper?! Stephanie said that when it's time for Cooper to take his nap she wraps him up in a blanket, lays him in the crib, and that's that. Within 5 minutes he is asleep and stays asleep for a long time. At home it takes me at least 15 minutes just to get him to go to sleep. And forget about staying asleep. Exactly 1/2 hour after he has been placed in his crib he is wide awake. This his how it's been all weekend.

Today has been an especially frustrating day. I nursed him this morning at 6:00. Then at 8:00 he wanted to get up. So daddy got him up, and boy was he grumpy! While changing his diaper he screamed through the whole thing. This never happens with Cooper. He usually loves his diaper changed. Then Grammy and Grampy held him for a few minutes before he started crying in desperation because he was starving. After feeding him a bottle (which he didn't eat very much of) he fell asleep in Grammy's arms. Nap time! NOT! When I was wrapping Cooper up in his blanket he started laughing and smiling at me. Then Grammy tried to rock him to sleep and all he did was stare at her wide awake. We got him up and played with him for another 45 minutes. By then he had been awake for over 2 hours and had not had a morning nap. When I put him down for his second nap I gave him his pacifier and he was asleep in seconds! I thought this was a great sign that he was exhausted and would sleep for at least an hour. Boy was I completely wrong!! He only slept for 20 minutes. So we thought rocking him back to sleep would help.
NOT!

This is Cooper after 15 minutes of rocking! Does he look tired after only sleeping 20 minutes all morning? You'd never know he didn't sleep by the way he was acting.













So dad continued to rock him and a few minutes later we were here. ( see picture)












Still awake, but calm and not smiling.

Then a few minutes later we end up with this picture.











This is Paul giving a what-the-heck look as Cooper is pooping in his diaper. There goes another nap. After changing his diaper Cooper was wide awake, smiling and laughing for 10 minutes until again he started crying, dying to eat. During the bottle, he spit up so much that he went through 3 bibs. And most of it ended up on Paul! As far as we know he hardly ever spits up at daycare. What are we doing wrong! Oh it's so obvious that we are rookie parents. Especially since I blog in great detail about his entire day. Any advice you may have would be greatly appreciated. I want to remember this so when he has kids some day I can look back laugh and say " it's payback time!" That's what our parents have done to us. I have to say one last thing. Even though Cooper doesn't sleep when at home, we have been blessed with a very happy child. Paul and I are so thankful for this.

My First Thanksgiving

Since this was my first Thanksgiving, mommy and daddy decided to let me tell all about our trip to Nampa, ID. The Thanksgiving festivities began on Tuesday. I noticed Mommy and Daddy scurrying around the house at an unusually fast rate filling different bags with clothes and cameras and computers. It was interesting to see. I suspected that this unusual activity meant something was up, so I decided not to sleep much in the morning. Mommy and daddy put me in my car seat and I knew this would be interesting. We were all packed into the car and started driving. This trip seemed a little different than other trips I have taken. We were in the car for a long time, so I decided to fall asleep. A couple hours later, mommy woke me up so I could eat. I didn't really like the fact that mommy was giving me a bottle. That's always daddy's job...at night. It was strange because we were in a noisy parking lot, and when I was done with my bottle this strange man with dark glasses changed my diaper on the front seat of the car. I later figured out it was just daddy hiding behind his sunglasses. After we started driving again, I let mommy and daddy know that they forgot to rock me after eating by screaming. The man with the dark glasses reappeared and leaned over my car seat to calm me down, but he just made me scream louder. Mommy almost pulled over, but I finally decided that I would just forget the rocking. Besides, when I closed my eyes, the strange man with dark glasses disappeared. I slept the rest of the way. It was a 6 hour drive! I was so glad to finally get there. That was my longest trip ever!

When we arrived in Nampa, Grammy Terry and Grandpa Ed were excited to see us. I was a little cranky from the car ride, so we all decided to go to bed early. I didn't sleep so good in the bassinet because when mommy and daddy put me on my back, I kept startling myself...stupid Moro Reflex! I think I finally fell a sleep and before I knew it I was already waking up hungry.

Wednesday was mostly a sleep day. Thank goodness mommy held me or I would have never gotten any sleep. I'm not used to being away from my room for so long.

During the afternoon we went to visit Aunt April at the coffee shop. More riding in the car. At least this time it was much shorter. When we got there I woke up long enough to say hi to Aunt April, look at all the bright lights and then fell back asleep.




Grammy Terry, Aunt April, Mommy and Daddy at the coffee shop.


Before I knew it mommy was putting my pj's on me and I was being rocked to sleep.
I haven't completely mastered the use of my eyes yet, so sometimes I cross my eyes to try and focus. Silly mommy wanted to put me in my bassinet to sleep on my back. Daddy knew I wouldn't like it and when I woke up 10 minutes later daddy decided to put me in my car seat to sleep. Great idea daddy! I think I slept for almost 4 hours, but I can't tell time yet so I'm not really sure. After a good night sleep I woke up and it was Thanksgiving day.

I wasn't sure what to expect on Thanksgiving. After Grammy got home from Church she had a few minutes to cuddle with me. I liked it so much I decided to smile. I was a little gassy at the time so it was easy for me to smile at Grammy.

Grammy could only hold me for a short while because she had to start making dinner. It was hard for me to stay asleep in the other room because I kept hearing everyone having so much fun in the kitchen without me. No fair! Mommy helped make the cranberry sauce while daddy made the potatoes.






Aunt April always makes the butter rolls. Mommy tells me that April is really good at it. After all the banging and noise in the kitchen was done I decided I wanted to stay awake and eat. Funny how mommy and me always seem to want to eat at the same time. I decided I'd eat fast and then fall asleep so everyone else could eat. Wasn't that nice of me? I don't let that happen very often.


I didn't get to eat with everyone else so daddy took some good pictures and I got to meet everyone else later.


Daddy took a picture of dinner so I would know what mommy had eaten. We had stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, butter rolls, and of course turkey. It tasted pretty good if you ask me. After dinner I heard everyone making lots of noise in the dining room. It sounded like they were having lots of fun without me. Mommy told me they played Cranium. I can't wait until I'm old enough to play with all the little pieces.



The play dough that Grammy was playing with looks like something I would enjoy getting my hands on.


Of course, I couldn't let the fun continue without me. I had to cry rather loudly to be heard over all the laughing. Finally, daddy came to pick me up. Thank goodness mommy was close behind because I was hungry again.

Before I got to eat Aunt Erin wanted to hold me one more time before she had to leave. I liked looking at her long curly hair, not something I get to see very often. But after a few minutes I realized I was still hungry so I started to fuss so she would give me back to mommy. Sorry my visit was so short Aunt Erin.

Friday morning was a busy time. I woke mommy up early to eat and then decided I didn't want to go back to sleep. Grammy wanted to hold me and I thought this was fun.

I liked looking at her when she wasn't always in a hurry to cook something in the kitchen. It was nice of her to hold me up so I could see everything.





I had so much fun I completely forgot where mommy went. I finally decided I was tired and Grammy put me in my car seat to sleep. After mommy was finished in the shower I decided I was hungry again. Being awake for so long uses up a lot of my energy. Mommy fed me and then got me dressed. By this time it was starting to get very noisy in the dinning room again. But this time it was only daddy and Grandpa Ed making the noise. They were taking down an old fireplace and making a big walk in closet for Grammy and all her kitchen gadgetry. Daddy was impressed that he and Grandpa Ed didn't have to cut down all of the pipes. It came down with a few tugs on the rope.




Things were beginning to get noisy and dusty. Mommy thought it would be a good idea to get out of the house for awhile while Daddy and Grandpa Ed worked. We decided to go visit Aunt April at the coffee shop again. This was most likely the only place that wasn't packed with people shopping on black Friday. When we got there I decided to wake up and I was glad that I did. Aunt April had decorated the shop for Christmas with lots of lights and decorations. It was pretty and sparkly. But after awhile the lights began to hurt my eyes because they were so bright. It was nice of Grammy to hold me for a few minutes until I fell back asleep. Before I knew it we were home again and I was hungry. After I ate, mommy took me out into the dining room so I could see daddy and Grandpa Ed hard at work. I couldn't believe all the progress they had made in such a short few hours. It's a good thing daddy has built walls before or it might have taken a lot longer. He's so handy. I can't wait until the day when he teaches me how to use all his fun looking tools. I'm sure I could make just as much noise as him using that hammer thing.


Later Friday night I got to meet some of daddy's high school friends, Mort and Simmons.

Mort's head kind of looked like mine, no hair. His is by choice. Mine is just taking a long time to grow.

Then Simmons wanted to hold me. He was wearing a hat and I couldn't really see his face too well. I didn't like his hat so I decided I wanted mommy to hold me again. I started to fuss and wiggle around but before mommy could get her hands on me Grammy was there whisking me away. She held me and rocked me to sleep. I didn't see mommy again until early the next morning when I was hungry.

Saturday there was more banging going on in the dining room. This time mommy and I stayed home. Mommy watched movies while I slept most of the day. Everyone else was too busy to pay attention to me. Mommy was tired because she wasn't able to take a nap like she had hoped.


Every once in awhile mommy would bring me out to say hi to Grandpa Ed and daddy and see how the closet was coming. I couldn't believe they had finished the closet in two days. That's some fast building.

This is what the finished closet looked like. The only thing left for Grammy to do was paint it and add shelves. Grammy Terry and Grandpa Ed were very happy that we stayed so daddy could help finish the closet.

Since daddy had hardly seen me all day, he wanted to rock me to sleep. I was so tired I fell asleep fast. Daddy was having a difficult time keeping me upright. I decided that it was most comfortable with my face in daddy's arm. It smelled like sawdust. Yum! I can't wait until someday when I can play with that stuff.

It was finally time to leave on Sunday. Mommy and daddy were up early to pack up all of my stuff. Grammy was nice enough to hold me while mommy and daddy looked all around the house to make sure they didn't forget any of my things. Packing the car went much faster this time. Then were on the road before I knew it. I was a little fussy at first because I knew this was going to be another long ride home. I was so anxious I kept spitting out my pacifier and mommy had to lean in the back seat and help me find it again. This was making her car sick so she finally decided to come sit in the back seat with me. This made me feel a little better. I liked to see her next to me. I soon went to sleep and before I knew it I was hungry and started to wake up. It was a good thing that mommy and daddy stopped shortly after that because I don't know how much longer I could have waited to eat. The man with the dark sunglasses was feeding me my bottle. How dare he give me a cold bottle. I kept fussing and finally the sunglasses came off and I realized it was daddy. Despite the cold bottle, I decided it was safe to eat. After I finished eating, mommy changed my diaper on the front seat of the car. Luckily, this time the car door wasn't open because it was so windy and it would have made me even colder than I already was. When I was all changed mommy put me back in my car seat and daddy put some gas in the car. Mommy must have forgotten that I wanted to be rocked so I tried to tell her by screaming as loud as I could. The best she could do was sit next to me, hold my hand, and sing me a song. I decided this was better than nothing and went to sleep after awhile. W hen I awoke, mommy said that we were almost home. It's a good thing we were because I was starving. I'm glad the long trip was finally over.